Bio

Emily Pelstring (aka Inflatable Deities) obtained her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design in Film/Animation/Video, and her MFA from Concordia University. Her work focuses on collaborations with musicians, such as performance visuals and music videos, which have premiered on Pitchfork, THE FADER, Rookie Mag, and MuchMusic. She also creates multimedia projects with her collaborator Jessica Mensch under the moniker Inflatable Deities. She currently teaches Media Production in the Communications Studies Department at Concordia University.

Works

28 Days

  • 2013
  • Emily Pelstring

This video pays stylistic homage to girl punks and 1960's rock and roll girl groups. Camera moves and mise-en-scene are inspired by the 1963 music film for “He's Got the Power” by the Exciters. The video responds to the song's theme of menstruation by presenting a series of celebratory images of female solidarity.

28 Days

I Know I’m Late

  • 2013
  • Emily Pelstring

Playing on the classic backstage drama, this short musical featuring Jef Barbara's I Know I'm Late embeds the story of its own making into a fantasy performance in the dressing room of a Montreal cabaret.

I Know I’m Late

Doing My Rounds, Checking Some Rounds

  • 2013
  • Emily Pelstring

This solo performance for the camera explores how the electronic manipulation of the video signal can create a choreocinema for body and machine.

Doing My Rounds, Checking Some Rounds

The Alicorn

  • 2013
  • Emily Pelstring, Jessica Mensch

Themes of women's stories, power, and transgression are woven throughout the narrative depicted in this video work.

The Alicorn

Auroratone

  • 2012
  • Emily Pelstring

This abstract cut-out animation attempts to create orderly pixel patterns using only hand-cut and hand-arranged materials, without any grids, rulers, or visual guides.

Auroratone

Hoshi Neko (Little Star)

  • 2012
  • Emily Pelstring

This 16mm B&W cut-out animation borrows narrative tropes from early Atari video games, silent films, and anime cartoons, offering a weird story and hybrid aesthetic.

Hoshi Neko (Little Star)